Selecting system



Jan. 15, 1952 R. M. M. OBERMAN' SELECTING SYSTEM 2 S-lEETS-SHEET 1 Filed April 21, 1948 INVENTOR.

1952 R. M. M. OBERMAN 2,582,349

SELECTING SYSTEM Filed April 21, 1948 2 Sl'lEETS-SHEET 2 rmo-'- FIG.4.

FIG.2.

' INVENTOR. W M BY Patented Jan. 15, 1952 OFFICE ssmc'rmo SYSTEM Roclof.Maarten Marie Oberman, .The Hague,

Netherlands."

Application April 21, 1948, Serial No; 22,426 In 'the Netherlands April 21, 1947" 11.,Glaims. (Cl. 177-453)- This: invention" relates? to? a: receiving: and -.-se-- 1mm system responsive. diflerent signailing; criteria in" an electrical. signalling: system;. preferably-"a telegraphrsystemxor a=.te1ephone system iii which certain signais are transmitted from the subscriber tothe'" exchange or'between the exchanges by means: of l the"; Wheatstone: bridge equilibrium principle:

It is known to construct: such devices" with' a" be best understood from the following" deecrin tionofspeciflc embodimentswhen readiin connection" with the: accompanying, drawings. in.

which:

Fig. 1* is adiagram oithe relay selector; according :to the invention;

Figs: 2 and 3 show curves characterizing-the operation of the: discriminating device shown-in Fig.1: and

oontroller orrelay'set; huntingstep-by-step-for Fig; 4 is: a. modification of the device shownbrid'ge" equilibrium,. and? being. stopped: when iniFig. v1.

is atttainem; see U; S. Patent No. The diagram, Fig. 1, is drawn in non-operaz- MWIOBWto Deskin; tive (fnormalf') position. It" will be assumed A. device for quicker operation is" disclosed in. thatizin this, situationboth: the points X. and i Y ti'ie co pending U. SE patent applicatiomBerial areib'ia'sedto -30-volts; No: 767536; filedAugustfi; .1947, mwPatent No.- Equality of. these potentials; is obtained by 2,543,050, patented February 27, 1951, with. four means'of. the? adjustable: resistor R".- Wheatstone-bridgeseaclnhavmg"an'equilibrium Fiorrthe followingdescriptionsof this example discriminator; and capablewo selects. signal out it-.-wil1 befassumedthat ten different signalvolt oi lfi possible signal criteria in the: operation ages can be imparted to; the terminal'xbysintme'of'at most foursuccessive relays. troducing different resistanewrin thesendingap- The device according to the present invention paratus'fiTsi. combines az high" positioning. rapidity with the The vacuum tube Vrgoverns the selecting mo use" off only one-:Wheatstbne bridge. because. in tion :of the relay-set. A to 'E. During this selec:- the fl'i'st selectiononly'testtvoitageszcorrespondticn the tube V2? is inoperative, the contact-fr in to'every'second signalinumber'areapplied, inrthe: output circuit of this tube being open;- thednterjacentnumbers-being;stepped over. Theoperation oi tube V1" is characterized by:

discriminating device is'oi such acharthe-curveof Fig. 2,.showingithatthis tube: and actertliat-rtli'e selecting; motion-is stopped. not thetest relay (winding NW1) remaiminoperaonlywhen a signal voltage-isxemctly equilibrated,. tive, if terminalY has a voltage equal to or more"- butmlswwhenvasignai voItageis-Ypassed. negative: than the, voltage of terminal X. It:

In the second? instance; after; the-selectors any'sixnalis given, terminal Xreeeives a moremotiomcome to an end, final discriminanegative voltage: according to. the following" mm between :thef. odd land even: number: at stake? table? isrnertm'merrwithout'achangmgi the acquired se The other figures in this table will be=explainedf lector position. in the following; description.

. Relays Signal. Tm. vague NW A 13 0 1) E" I 'Ilhmnovelfeatureszwhicha are. considered as. The. tubesvi and. Vz-and therelay; Nwitormi characteristic for the invention are set. forth a discriminating, device having two terminalsxi in: particular; in,-the1appended-claims. The in- Y, which receive,- respectively,v the. signal and vention itself, however,,both.as to its construe comparison voltages. The. result 01' the. com.- tienmand itsamethodiof operation, together with. parison or discrimination appears in the position objects -and. .advantages' thereof, will 5.5

of the armature nw oi therelay- NW.

The armature mu constitutes a means for controlling the selector means. If armature mu is on its front contact it starts the energization of the series of relays A to E. If armature mu is restored to normal so as to be in contact with its back contact the energization of the series comes to an end in the position which it had attained, the operative relays, for instance A, B, C being held in operative position by their second windings which are inserted in holding circuits. The remaining relays, for instance D and E remain idle.

The armatures as to e; and the potentiometer R1 to R1 controlled by the same constitute a means for communicating information to the discriminator, namely the information how far the energization of the series of relays has proceeded. This information is communicated in form of a voltage for instance -42 volts to the discriminator over the terminal Y of the same.

The relay F forms a means for discriminating between odd and even criteria by completing with the armature f3 thereof the circuit for the tube V2 and the second winding of the relay NW. This enables a fine distinction to be made between neighboring signal voltages on terminal X, for instance if Y has a voltage of -42 and X has a voltage of -42 belonging to the odd signal or volts belonging to the even signal 4 as more fully pointed out in the table above.

The picking up of the testing voltages from the potentiometer R1 to R: can be done by means of a rotating wiper the motor or ratchet of which is controlled by the armature nw or any equivalent therefor. In the discriminating device the terminals X and Y are essential elements whereas the other parts of the discriminating device could be replaced by equivalents.

Should, for instance, signal 5 be issued, then point X would be biased to -42 volts; tube V1 operates and energizes winding NW1, then closing a circuit for the relay A: ground, front contact nw, back contact is, winding A1 to battery. Relay A operates and over contact (11, the winding B1 of the next relay is connected to ground.

The point Y is first tested with -34 volts, taken from the potentiometer R1-R'1 by way of front contact as and back contact b3. As --34 volts is still positive with respect to 42 v., the tube V1 and relay NW remain operative, enabling relay B1 to operate with a delay of a few milliseconds causing the test voltage on point Y' now to be changed to 38 v.

Similarly, relay C1 is energized, but now point Y reaches the equilibrium voltage 42 volts over front contacts as, b3, 03 and back contact (is. Tube V1 now becomes inoperative and relay NW is reversed switching in its back contact so rapidly that relay D has no time to operate although its winding D1 is energized for a short moment over control 01.

The reversion to normal of relay NW de-energizes all relay windings A1, B1, C1, but these relays are kept in operation by their second windings A2, B2, C2 which are now connected to ground over back contact me and contacts as, b2, 02, respectively.

Simultaneously a circuit is closed for winding F1: ground, back contact nw, contact an, and with some delay relay G is also energized.

The operative relays are now: F, G, A, B and C and the register relays RR1 and RR4 are actuated: Viz: RR1: back contact me, contacts as, g; RR4; back contact nw, contacts a2, 64, c4;

1 table for signal 4 Although contact Dr is also closed, register relay RRz is not operated because its circuit is open at back contact 04. By adding the indices of the register relays RR1 and RR1 the signal number 5 is recognized. By operation of relay F contact is closes and the other vacuum tube V2 is switched in, but tube V2 and winding NW: do not operate because the signal voltage =-42 v.) and the test voltage (Y 42 v.) are found to be in equilibrium.

Now it shall be considered what happens when signal 4 is given, biasing point X to 40 v.

The selecting operation develops exactly in the same way as with signal 5 up to the test voltage -42 v. on point Y, with relays A, B and C operating successively. But when contact I: closes the circuit for tube V2 and winding NW1, this tube, according to Fig. 3, now responds to the difference between the test voltage (Y=-42 v.) and the signal voltage (X=-40 v.) and relay NW operates for the second time. The second winding F2 is now energized over front contacts nw and f1. All the other relays A, B, C are deenergized; that is why the marks in the are placed in brackets.

The duration of stay of contact nm on the back contact between the de-energization of winding NW1 and the energizing of winding NW2 depends mainly on the delay of relay F controlling contact is. This stay ought to be long enough to actuate the register relays over back contact nw, and contact (12, e1, but relay G has no time to operate since its energization only starts with the closing of contact f1, having the same delay as contact f3, and from this moment relay NW is faster than relay G.

The result is that signal 4 is registered in relay RR1 only: back contact nw, contact as, back contact e1, front contact 04. RRz is not operated for the same reason as in the preceding example.

During the second operative period relay NW restores all relays A to E to normal. This means that the test potential on point Y is restored to 30 v., and point X being still 40 v. because of the signal, tube V1 becomes inoperative and tube V1 operates winding NW1. For the rest of the duration of the signal relay F is held in operation over front contact me, front contact f2, and winding F2, while relay NW is held operative by tube V1 and winding NW1.

When the signal stops, tube V1, winding NW1 and winding F1 are rendered inoperative and the entire arrangement is prepared to receive a new signal.

Returning to the first example (signal "5) it is remarked that during the presence of signal voltage on terminal X the relay NW is not rendered operative whereas relays A through C, and G remain operative. In order to restore these relays in preparation of the next signal, relay NW now performs a second operation of short duration after the signals stop, as the 30 v. bias on X opposite the 42 v. still present on Y causes windings B1 and NW1 to operate until by de-energizing A (B and C) the test voltage on Y is restored to 30 v.

The sequence switch SS (not shown) having the task to shift the selecting arrangement to e. g. another register, can be coupled to the front contact of f2.

In the above example a four relay register is chosen to gather the intelligence given by the signal, but if a decimal register (e. g; a crossbar switch) is desired, the arrangement according to be used? 'l'iianumber-oi? ihconsequenceofthe-greatr number oioutppt leads, mid -a reiay H isaddedigiving register actuation-' after" seleetion is' completed; In Fig." 4 corresponds to Fig. 1 along the line only the reiaycontacts' concerned with registeringare given.

' '1'iie-invention*canalso-be carried out with" a? rotary selec'tor insteadof'the-relayset A* to flg a'hwseveral other modifications-of T the given v ex-- device means 1 connected to said discriminating:

ample canbe designed withpreselection-brtwosand subsequentodd/even discrimination; among them the application oiother signalling criteria such as differ'entsender resistance; or any other phenomenonadaptablerfon denm'tiontof a series of signals.

It will be understood-that each of-theelementsdescribedv above, or two or more togethenmay 1 selecting" systems differing from the defalso i'ihd -a useful applicationin other typeset scribed iabove;

' W'hiie I-'have illustrated and 2 described the A inveirtiomas embodied in-seleeting systems responsitvtod'iflerent electricalsignals, I do not intend to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of my invention.

While I have illustrated and described what I regard to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, nevertheless it will be understood that such is merely exemplary and that numerous modifications and rearrangements may be made therein without departing from the essence of the invention.

I claim:

1. A selecting system responsive to diflerent electrical signals forming pairs each comprising two contiguous signal criteria comprising in combination: a selecting means; a potential discriminating device; means connected to said discriminating device for controlling said selecting means; means operated by said selecting means for communicating information to said discriminating device, any such information being responsive to a pair of two contiguous signal criteria; and means for a final discrimination between odd and even signal criteria.

2. A selecting system responsive to diflerent electrical signals forming pairs each comprising two contiguous signal criteria, comprisingv in combination: a series of selecting relays; a potential discriminating device; means connected to said discriminating device for successively operating said relays; means operated by said relays for communicating information to said discriminating device, any such information being -responsive to a pair of two contiguous signal criteria; and means for a final discrimination between odd and even signal criteria.

3. A selecting system responsive to different signal voltages comprising in combination: selecting means; a potential discriminating device; means connected to said discriminating device for controlling said selecting means; means operated by said selecting means for successively biasing said discriminating device with a voltage having a predetermined relationship to a pair of two contiguous signal voltages; and means for a final discrimination between odd and even signal criteria.

4. A selecting system responsive to different signal voltages comprising in combination: a potential discriminating device; means for biasing device for successively controlling said relays meanyopera ted by said relays tobiassaid dis'woriinination' device a voltage responstve to either of two: contiguous signal voltages; anli for a flnal discrimination between odd ant even signal criteria;

61A selecting system responsive diii'erenti; signal voltages comprising in' combination; as selecting device; a first vacuum tube; means cone nected to said" first vacuumtube': for operating said selecting" device; means operated bysaid? seleeting device 'forbiasing said *first vacuum tulle tobe' imperative on either of two can I voltages and asecond vacuum tube; and

v.means maintaining the bias of said second" vacuum tilb'edn a predetermined relatioml-iip to: the bias of said first tube.

7. A selecting system responsive to different signal voltages comprising in combination a first vacuum tube; a plurality of selecting relays governed by said first vacuum tube; a second vacuum tube; means operated by said selecting relays for biasing one 01 said tubes to be inoperative on different pairs of two contiguous signal voltage values and for simultaneously biasing the other tube with a predetermined voltage difierence with respect to said tube biased to be inoperative on different pairs of two contiguous signal voltage values.

8. A selecting system responsive to diil'erent signal voltages comprising in combination a first vacuum tube; a second vacuum tube; means to maintain a predetermined bias difference between said vacuum tubes; means for biasing one of said vacuum tubes to be inoperative on different pairs of two contiguous signal voltage values; and a. series of selecting relays successively operated by one of said vacuum tubes. said biasing means being controlled by said selecting relays.

9. A selecting system responsive to different electrical signal criteria including odd and even signal criteria, comprising in combination, a. selector means; a first vacuum tube; a second vacuum tube; a relay having a first winding connected in the anode circuit of said first vacuum tube and a second winding connected in the anode circuit of said second vacuum tube, said relay controlling said selector means; means operated by said selector means for biasing said two vacuum tubes, said biasing means of said vacuum tubes in correspondence with the difierent signal criteria being adapted to bias said first vacuum tube with the same potential for each pair of two contiguous signal criteria including an even signal criterion and the next higher odd signal criterion, the bias of said second vacuum tube being in a predetermined relationship to the bias of said first vacuum tube; and means being responsive to a final discrimination between odd and even signal criteria for switching on said second vacuum tube.

10. A selecting system responsive to different electrical signal criteria including odd and even signal criteria, comprising in combination, a series of selector relays; a first vacuum tube;

a. second vacuum tube; a relay having a first winding connected in the anode circuit of said first vacuum tube and a second winding connected in the anode circuit of said second vacuum tube said relay successively operating said selector relays; means operated by said selector relays for biasing said two vacuum tubes in correspondence with the different signal criteria, said biasing means of said vacuum tubes being adapted to bias said first vacuum tube with the same potential for each pair of two contiguous signal criteria including an even signal criterion and the next higher odd signal criterion, the bias of said second vacuum tube being in a predetermined relationship to the bias of said first vacuum tube; and means being responsive to a final discrimination between odd and even signal criteria for switching on said second vacuum tube.

11. A selecting system responsive to different electrical signal criteria including odd and even signal criteria, comprising in combination, a selector device; a first vacuum tube; a second vacuum tube; a relay having a first winding connected in the anode circuit of said first vacuum tube and a second winding connected in the anode circuit of said second vacuum tube, said relay controlling said selector device; means operated by said selector device for biasing said two vacuum tubes in correspondence with the different signal criteria so as to render said first vacuum tube inoperative on either 0! two contiguous signal criteria, the bias of said second vacuum tube being in a predetermined relationship to the bias of said first vacuum tube and means being responsive to a final discrimination between odd and even signal criteria for switching on said second vacuum tube.

ROELOF MAARTEN MARIE OBERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Deakin Nov. 30, 1948 

